Being a life-long fan of football, I, like millions of other viewers, bit down on the wiggly worm dangled in front of us.

The notion of getting more of our favorite sport was strong enough to get us to tune into the premiere of the XFL games on NBC and UPN, if not from just pure curiosity.

But I found the taste of the bait was not worth it and the end result not pleasant.

The quality of the game not withstanding, I found myself uncomfortable with hearing the mish-mash of urban and country Ebonics, not just dribbling out of the mouths of some of my brothers on the field but even on the backs of their jerseys. In the XFL, as a form of self-expression, players can put their nicknames or some other verbal gestures on their uniforms instead of their real names. One guy wrote "He Hate Me" on his and that is now part of the semi-scripted character generated buzz being played up by the announcers as a substitute for the less than stellar play on the field.

The XFL, created by pro-wrestling mogul Vince McMahon, is visual methadone for Football fans suddenly cut off from our mainline.

Appealing to some of the baser instincts, with sexy and quite frankly not so sexy cheerleaders, not only strutting their stuff on the sidelines, but now wired for sound and part of the action, talking about their "lusts" for certain players, who may "score" after the game if they get "penetration" on the field.

The rules changes, like no fair catches, no Quarterback "grasp" safety, and a mad sprint to a football, instead of a coin toss, all pump the element of violence.

Cameras are everywhere…on the field during play, in the locker room and even in front of coaches during the game. I’m sure many of the tight lipped control freaks weren’t expecting to be quite so invasive since some of them have an even poorer control of the English language than their players.

The league attempts to play off of this obsession we seem to have with voyeurism. With the success of shows like Survivor, Cops and even Blind Date, some brilliant, but certainly short-sighted people including McMahon thought they could be successful by bringing that same element to football.

Substituting sub-standard play on the field with acts and action everywhere else they will make their money back for sure since most of these guys are making paltry salaries to put their bodies on the line.

But will all the gimmicks and the hype sustain a league that is not of the quality of the real thing?

The long ball on that question is no. Even with all the attendance and viewer numbers that XFL sponsors are touting, those figures are feathered with people who are wrestling fans. And while I, like many other people who refused to admit it, have stopped surfing on occasion to settle on a match or two on TNT.

We still know it’s not a "real" sport. That "realization" will soon hit this league as well. A poll of the fans, after the inaugural week found that about half of even the most ravenous wrestling fans in that group of viewers found the league "fumbling" in quality.

This is the lull in sports when NFL action is over. Baseball contracts are being signed and NBA standings still have no true meaning with the playoffs still weeks away. But the NCAA college basketball ritual of March madness is only a few weeks away and then you’ll see more of the TV network vultures in the sky circling this circus act of athletics.

I feel sorry for network affiliate sports reporters now forced to cover the games and play highlight clips as part of their day.

The XFL does have some drama, some good play, even some good acting, but those are the elements of many tragedies and even more stinkier bombs.

It is nice to know that some brothers will have jobs for a few weeks, get on TV and make their families proud (or maybe not). But I sincerely hope they are working on a plan "B" for next year.